Ups and downs

We'll start with the bad news.  

But then there was this:

And this:

 

And our stuff came, so that was good.  It's all on the first floor behind plastic sheeting while we rip out carpet, caulk the crap out of 130 years of weird gaps in wood framing, prime and seal and paint and wet-sand and HEPA-vac and re-carpet and generally make the house safe for current and future teethers but just being NEAR my books and wrapped artwork makes me feel at home, right?  

Liz doesn't thrive in limbo.  

(but Ainsley does!)

More good.  These guys:

And this guy who was attacked by a werewolf while sledding and escaped by virtue of his cunning nature and quick feet. 

Jeez.

And Khikho, who has only been made more cuddly by her cardiac ailments. 

How many tries does it take to get two 8 1/2 month-olds to wear plastic hats simultaneously?

Ta-da!

The old flag made the cross-country journey by car.

And what an end to the season it was.

Worthy of a formal family portrait.

I started work today with Finger Lakes Community Health in the village of Ovid.  So far it's just been training on the computers, meeting cool people, and taking on-line quizzes to refresh my knowledge of tuberculosis transmission prevention, workplace electrical fire response, and patient privacy policies (hint: it's everyone's job and you shouldn't gossip in elevators) but it's really exciting finally to be starting this part of my career.  I get to help jump-start a tiny clinic, get to know a small town in need, spread my doctor wings, and live in Ithaca while I do it.  That was pretty much the dream ten years ago when this all started.  Now let's get some sleep and get caulking.